Modeling clay package



June 26, 1951 R. T. HEINEMAN ET AL 2,558,550

MODELING CLAY PACKAGE Filed April 19, 1947 l l l I l I N VEN TORS /Tu rH 7. HE/NEM.4N

ATTORNEYS,

Patented June 26, 1951 auth T. Beinamen, Nemours, al1- John itfM'lier, Deer Par-k, Ohio; said Mill-er 'assignor to -"said 'Aiiplicaticn April 19, 1947, 'serial No. 742,690.

'Thisinvetion relates tba package for-deformable material and particulars to material of this nature bearing an impression, which it is desired to preserve.

One of us, fora hum-ber of years, made small plaques or tile's'of'prcelain bisque bearing a childs hand print. Parents of small children often desire Yto preservefor themselves, or for the childs later life, mementoes lo'f the chils babyhood, and a hand print'o'fffa small child, suitably preserved in.JaLo-lorful tile-*or a plaque, is a very desirable childhoadV memento.

afslab of nsuitable clay `and call at the residence ofthe subject Aand take an impression of the childs hand. The'slab of clay -Was then taken home and suitably" firedv and tinted, and it was then -retur'ned to the purchaser in its finished form. These Vtiles vor plaques have been sold under the registered Atrade-'mark Pattyprintf Production with the procedure outlined above is relatively 4vslow and quantit7 is distinctly lim'- ited. We have'determinejd that production may be greatly increased if a suitable clay could be marketed in a suitable container through infant departments of leadingv department stores. In this Way the parentsy or other relative of the child in question could'purchase a package containing a suitable clay and could take the imprint of the childs hand at home. Then, the entire package could be mailed to our plant, Where We could complete the processing and ship the completed tile or plaque back to the original purchaser.

In connection with the provision of such a package, a number of problems arise among which are that a suitable clay must be provided which will remain plastic for long periods of time. This particular problem forms no part of the present invention and will not be discussed further. It is also necessary to provide means whereby the clay slab, bearing the impression can be readily removed from the container. It is also necessary to provide a construction whereby the impression in the clay surface Will be preserved from damage or deformation, Which might result from rough handling during shipment, or. from contact with the lid.

Our objects include the solution of the problems discussed above as well as others, which will be explained in more detail hereinafter', or which Will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specications.

Reference is made to the drawings forming a part hereof and in which:

4 claims. (c1. "20e-4t) 2 Fig. lisa vplan -vieWo'f a package according to our invention. v Fig. 2 is a diametral crosssectional View taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Eig. 2, but showingl` the package in the form in which it Will be soldil Briefly in the practice vof our invention We provide a container Which is of a vrelatively rigid material, preferably sheet metal, and which may' b e in plan of a sizean'd -shape suitable for a plaque to bear theimprint of a childs hand. We provide a liner for the container Which is of a material Which will not adhere to the `containei, Aso vthat the body of deformable matter contained inthe container may easily be re'- moved by us for further processing. We provide our container with a coveror lid, which 4rnay be of the slip-on type, but which is preferably ofv screw Vtype if the container is circular, and We provide means for 'spacing thevco'ver above the top su'r'face of the material "contained therein.

The container body is indicated generally at- I0 in the gures and according to our preferred form is circular, Wherebyw'e achieve a circularv tile or plaque. The circular'formY also `enables usto provide a vscrew lid which We prefer. It

Will also be understood that the container coul`d be square, rectangular, or ofr any other desired shape.

The container is provided with a liner, Which according to our preferred embodiment comprises a circular bottom disk II and an annular ring I2 of a material which will not adhere to the sheet metal container body. We prefer to use as a material for the liner an oil treated boxboard, and While the thickness of the member I2 is not of particular importance, the bottom disk II should be thick enough to sustain the Weight of the body of deformable material I3 with which the containerY is filled.

As seen in Fig. 3, We cover the body of deformable material I3 with a sheet I4 of protective material, which may be oil treated boXboard, or preferably metal foil. Thus in the package of Fig. 3, the material I3 is substantially sealed against the atmosphere by moisture proof material, so that the deformable material would not tend to dry out as a result of standing for long periods of time.

The lid I5 of the container, which as indicated above preferably has threaded engagement With the container body as at I6, is provided on its underside with an annular gasket II Which seats on the protective sheet I4 and is supported by the annular member I2. Thus when the lid I5 is tightly screwed on to the body I 0, the package in cross section has the appearance of Fig. 3. The spacing between the cover I and the protective sheet I4 prevents the surface I3a of the deformable material from being damaged.

The purchaser having acquired the package of Figs. 3 will remove the lid I5 to which the gasket I1 may be adhesvely secured and will peel off the protective sheet I4. The childs hand will then be pressed into the deformable material Il! to make the impression I8, which it is desired to preserve.

The protective sheet I4 will be discarded and the lid I5 will again be screwed down tightly at which time the package will have the appearance in cross section, shown in Fig. 2. In this condition the package will be shipped back to us for further processing and again the spacing between the member I5 and the surface I3a of the body of material I3 will prevent damage to the impression I8, which might result from rough handling in shipment, or from contactwith the lid.

As will be seen from the foregoing description, our invention has three aspects. We have provided a container for a particular purpose; we have provided a package containing a deformable material in an undeformed state; and we have provided a package containing a deformable substance, bearing an impression on its top surface which is to be preserved.

The composition of ,the deformable material, the procedures for preparing the same, and the procedures in connection with coloring and firing the plaque after the impression has been obtained form no part of the present invention.

It will be clear that various modifications may be made in our precise package without departing from the spirit of our invention, and we therefore do not intend to limit ourselves, except as pointed out in the claims which follow.

Having now fully described our invention what we claim as new and desire to Secure by Letters Patent is: v

l. As an article of manufacture, a container,

a Stiff bottom lining piece snugly tting in the 4 bottom of said container, a lining collar in said container resting on said bottom lining pieceQ said lining piece and collar being of a material Which will not adhere to said container, a body of modeling clay in deformable condition in said container supported on said bottom lining piece and snugly embraced by said lining collar, and a lid for said container, said lid having an annular spacing collar which, in the assembled condition of said article, bears upon said lining collar and peripherally on said body of modeling clay.

2. An article of manufacture according to claim 1 in which said container and lid have threaded engagement.

3. An article of manufacture according to claim 1 in which said lining piece and collar are of Vmoisture-proof material.

4. An article of manufacture according to claim 1 wherein said lining piece and collar are of moisture-proof material and wherein there is provided a cover sheet of moisture-proof material of a size and shape to fit snugly within said container covering said body of modeling clay and said lining collar so that in the assembled condition of the article the cover sheet is engaged between said lining collar and said spacing collar.

RUTH T. HEINEMAN. JOHN F. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Y 1,121,357 Hasburg 1 Dec. 15, 1914 1,161,012 Summers Nov. 16, 1915 1,191,851 Thayer July 18, 1916 1,840,616 Burke Jan. 12, 1932 1,852,035 Von Frankenberg Apr. 5, 1932 1,902,199 Tourtois Mar. 21, 1933 1,914,049 Smith June 13, 1933 1,977,580 Grierv i- Oct. 16, 1934 1,983,590 Anderson Dec. 11, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 975 Great Britain Jan. 14, 1904 289,747 Great Britain May 3, 1928 405.075 Great Britain Feb. 1, 1934 

1. AS AN ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE, A CONTAINER, A STIFF BOTTOM LINING PIECE SNUGLY FITTING IN THE BOTTOM OF SAID CONTAINER, A LINING COLLAR IN SAID CONTAINER RESTING ON SAID BOTTOM LINING PIECE, SAID LINING PIECE AND COLLAR BEING OF A MATERIAL WHICH WILL NOT ADHERE TO SAID CONTAINER, A BODY OF MODELING CLAY IN DEFORMABLE CONDITION IN SAID CONTAINER SUPPORTED ON SAID BOTTOM LINING PIECE AND SNUGLY EMBRACED BY SAID LINING COLLAR, AND A LID FOR SAID CONTAINER, SAID LID HAVING AN ANNULAR SPACING COLLAR WHICH, IN THE ASSEMBLED CONDITION OF SAID ARTICLE, BEARS UPON SAID LINING COLLAR AND PERIPHERALLY ON SAID BODY OF MODELING CLAY. 